Chances Among Chances
by Yueres De Leo
Summary: My take on the many things that could have happened on the dorama.
1. What He Learned

A/N: I do not own Moon Lovers.

A/N: English is not my first language.

 **A/N: For those who don't know, Wang Ju was Wang So's son.**

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 ** _"_** ** _Upon rising to the throne, Gyeongjong established the Jeonsigwa (land-allotment system). Later, he avoided politics and royalty, and spent his time cavorting with commoners."_**

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Wang Ju, Crown Prince of Goryeo, loved his mother.

But also, from a young age, the Prince knew that no matter how badly his mother wanted to put blame on his Father's lady for how the King treated him, although Ju was his first born son and Crown Prince, rather than being that gentle woman's fault it was his own mother's greed the one to blame for the distance between his father and himself.

"Crown Prince"

As a seven year old, the flower like objects lying on several wooden counters and the fragrant essence of the air were similar to pretty much nothing he had seen or smelt before. But because he was an intelligent child, he knew those were the 'soaps' he had heard of, but never used on himself. But more important than the smell and the colors and the music that had stopped when his title was called, was the smiling woman sitting in the middle of it all. Ju had never seen a Lady with rolled up sleeves before, he had never seen a lady manufacturing something from scratch, and he had probably never seen Lady Hae without his mother standing by his side with a raised chin. He saw her head bowing, he saw her lips curled into a smile, he saw her hands covered in some kind of white something and he saw a child that strongly resembled her sitting by her side.

"Lady Hae" The words came out before his brain could actually process who he had bumped into, head bowed ever so slightly in an instant. He then bowed to the other face he recognized "Uncle" Baek Ah looked at him, then looked at Soo, then leaned forward when the girl tugged at his sleeve before answering whatever she had asked into her ear. After that, the child's eyes never seemed to leave Ju, and when that happened, he was left to look once more at the soaps, if only for the fact that suddenly he felt the urge to talk about many things and couldn't possibly decide on one topic or how to introduce one without being rejected.

"Would you like to learn?"

Lady Hae Soo was faster.

Ju blinked at the soaps, then at the woman, and the sincere expression on her face made him think of all the time he had been invited to _watch_ something interesting, but never to participate. The boy didn't know why it felt like he shouldn't do it, like it was somehow prohibited to sit down and do the things he had seen no other royal do, but his body twitched and his legs wanted to sit him down besides the soaps so but so badly.

"I…" His hands twitched as well, overly aware of the fact that although he liked to practice his reading, he wasn't all that good handling small things with his fingers. Just how much of a mess would he make? His 13th Uncle sat by the side, and as soon as his fingers reached for the strings of his instrument and the music resumed its beautiful melody, Ju could see a small smile crossing his lips- Surely, his Uncle had seen the blush creeping up his cheeks "I would like to only watch today"

If Lady Haw too saw the pink coloring of his cheeks, she was probably kind enough to not comment about it. When the corners of her lips curled upwards even more, though, and her hands also resumed the task she was currently working on, Ju was left to wonder where that woman had come from.

"Please do"

After that, it wasn't the first time nor the last he was told by his mother to stay away from Lady Hae.

After he didn't listen, it wasn't the first time nor the last his father glanced his way more than once in a day with something extremely closed to approval in his eyes.

Until a certain point of his life, when he wasn't that small of a child anymore and he could walk around the Palace without his Mother, it wasn't often when he meet Lady Hae Soo, and the Prince was pretty sure he couldn't remember the first time he saw or heard about her. Probably – _Most probably_ \- it was his mother doing, and because he believed that truth and honesty were important when loving someone, he didn't feel like a bad son saying it. Therefore, it was only logical that until a certain point of his life, the Crown Prince wasn't aware of the fact that he had a half-sister.

That – _the fact that she existed, the fact that she was born before him, the fact that she was the actual first born of the King, and the fact that she held no title whatsoever because of how her mother had declined marriage to the King_ \- again, probably was his mother doing.

His sister's name was Byul.

When he did discover her existence, the first time around and not when the girl was with her mother, maybe when he saw his – _Their_ \- father holding her tiny hand so she wouldn't fall from the stones she was jumping on top of, maybe when he saw her being picked up by his – _Their_ \- 14th Uncle, or maybe when she unintentionally splashed him with water while playing with skipping rocks, Ju had not felt jealous like apparently the servants who knew how little his mother liked Lady Hae soo thought he would be. He had felt curious. And very, very, _very_ interested.

He didn't learn how to make soap, not that year or the ones to come. But he did learn how to fold paper into cranes – _'Making a hundred will grant you a wish, Your Highness'_ -, he did learn a little bit about astronomy – _'My Mother says not to trust Ji Mong that much about star's names, but shall we go to his tower anyway?_ '-, and many other things that would probably never be of any use on the world as it was, many things that none of his teachers could teach him, many things his mother didn't like him knowing, many things his Father would comment to him on those times Byul assisted to the small lunch he liked to have on his birthdays before the celebrations actually started.

At fourteen years of age, he found himself sitting by a bed inside a room he had visited often the last six month as the person laying on it went from weak and beautiful, to almost breakable, but still beautiful.

"Lady Hae"

The lady's pale face wasn't even that much different from the pristine fabric he pressed on her forehead to refresh her. His sister's frame laid besides her mother, her head curled against his leg, and he was somehow reminded of the moments of the last years in which he would be talked into sleeping under the open sky- Mainly because Lady Haw enjoyed stories, so he had to be prepared with enjoyable memories to share. The woman blinked, eyes searching for his own while a small smile appeared on her tired face.

"Yes?"

At first, the words didn't leave his mouth. And because he had always been praised for being smart, it was a rare sight. He took a look at her face again, at the room that was prettily decorated, but not as big as it could have been under other circumstances, at the girl sleeping next to her mother and took a breath "Why did you choose not to marry my father?" Even at a young age, he wasn't known for cowardice, so the Prince kept on talking even when he felt that what he was talking about was a topic many people evaded "I know he wanted to marry you more than once. Before Byul was born, and after you gave birth to her you could have become Second Queen"

The lady blinked at him.

She did that a lot. Mostly, it was followed by a 'You look very much like your father', but this time it felt more than a little bit different.

This time, she took a deep breathe.

"Your highness. Do you know what the opposite of love is?"

"I believe is not hate"

"I have discovered it to be leaving someone" This was the woman who the king had freed slaves fore than one for. This was the woman who had seen three Kings die, who had been by their sides. This was the woman whose daughter was sister and his friend, the woman who made the tea the King choose to drink, the woman for whom his 13th Uncle came to the palace to see. This was the woman who talked about equality and justice, and this probably was the only person who he would hear it from, so Ju paid attention "The only thing I could possibly offer His Majesty in this life was comfort. And because I love him, I will not voluntarily leave first" A soft laugh left her lips as she grinned quite happily, as if the years had not been cruel to the state of her heart, as if she had lived enough to laugh at Death in the face "Besides, just how much of a bad Queen would I be?"

 _I beg to differ_.

But because Ju loved his mother, he didn't say it aloud.

Then, his father had opened the door. It wasn't the first time he wasn't asked to leave the room, but it was the first time the Lady asked him to stay until he accepted. The look of gratitude of his father as they both stepped out and the gradually warmer tone he used to speak to him and the pat on his shoulder, gestures that repeated themselves over the years to come starting from that moment, probably were that Lady's farewell gift to Ju.

If you ask Ju, when Lady Hae Soo died her funeral wasn't one of a member of the important Hae Clan, or a King's mistress – _Which she wasn't, of that Ju was sure. If anything, if someone were to read his mind, they would find Ju thought her to be the first wife_ -. It was a funeral of someone beloved by many, many people. Dressed in white robes, he had seen his Uncles and servants that had been allowed to attend in their mourning clothes with tears rolling down their cheeks; it wasn't the first time he had seen his father hold Byul's hand so tightly, but it was the first time he had seen the King doing it as he if were the one needing something to hold on for safety, not the other way around.

No one could see a King crying.

Ju was sure he silently heard one that day.

After her death, Ju still wondered just where that woman had come from.

Byul, obviously, had learnt more form Lady Hae than him. But he didn't really ask. Not when he saw her writing symbols he didn't understand, as if they were normal characters, or when she mumbled things as Ji Mong left and they were graced by an eclipse, like she knew there was a hidden message to the whole thing. Ju didn't say anything. He just kept his mouth shut, acted like a brother and made her laugh at his attempts at paper cranes. Their father, at that, once more looked at him with gratitude.

When they were twenty and their father died, his half-sister wasn't the one standing by his side at the funeral, his wife was- His Queen, was, his cousin. But when he drank that night, it was his sister who drank to the last drop of wine with him.

He didn't really like seeing people standing so below him while he was sitting on the throne. There was a symbolizing to it, of course he knew that much, but it was impractical. The fact that his sisters too had to stand there was more than a little bit unsettling, and how it was right on that same room where more than one advisor had brought up the topic of marriage for more than half of his sisters, made it worse.

"Byul" She raised her eyes, smiling as she met his, flower like earrings swinging on her ears- It was the only sister, after all, who wore whatever jewelry he gifted her just to make him feel happy. It wasn't the first time Ju was not so silently grateful that this girl didn't have a title, that this girl wasn't called 'Princess'. His sister, this sister, wouldn't be married to someone she didn't love. His sister wouldn't marry someone for the sake of power. Ju rolled close the scroll he had been reading, leaving it aside before standing up "Do you want to go horse riding around Chungju?"

"Your Majesty" The Eunuch by his side looked more than a little bit startled by his question and the fact that he was already walking down the stairs to the lower level, hurriedly bowing to him "It is not advisable to go out in such a casual manner"

"I remember hearing that our father spent days reading books and hunting" His robes twirled behind him as he turned to look at the older man "I might also be remembered for meditating and ridding to clear my mind"

The chances of Byul refusing his request were low, because out of all the things they had learnt in the past, ridding probably was one of their favorites, but for the sake of formality she did look at him slightly curiously, hands together in front of her "Is His Majesty's mind clouded for something significant?"

Ju smiled.

"Shall we go and find out? I find myself terribly curious about how the market has changed as well. Maybe I should make al list"

His wife didn't like Byul half as much as she liked his other sisters.

But as time went by, it was his mother who reacted the loudest.

"Why do you act this way? Is it because of _her_? How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from than horrendous child!?" Her beautiful and slightly wrinkled face morphed into a frown, her grey hair a far cry from the dark color it had once possessed. But her dignity was intact, and so, she demanded explanations, and such was his annoyed state Ju tried to refrain from asking politely Byul not to be referred in such a way "You are a King, not a commoner!"

 _He didn't learn how to make soap._

 _But he did learn many, many other things._

"But I am a human. And before ruling over others, maybe I should act like one"

It was the first time Ju thought their father would be genuinely proud of him.


	2. Sharing is Caring

A/N: English is not my first language.

A/N: I do not own Moon Lovers.

 **A/N: One of the many regrets in life is not having seen So and Soo acting that much like the friends they once were. Now I'm a little bit closer to dying happy. Do you have any requests?**

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The first time Myung Hee was able to witness the quite surprising and somehow endearing act, was the night before the 4th Prince's belongings were moved to the Palace from the 8th Prince's residence.

There might be many things she wasn't capable of doing with her weak body, maybe now more than ever before, but Myung Hee was perfectly capable of greeting visits no matter the hour they arrived. Besides, there were some facts that had to be taken into consideration: The number of people that would accept Soo's invitation at that hour was limited, the number of people that was inside the residence to accept said invitation was very limited, and the number of people who Soo knew enough to invite them at such an hour was even more limited. So much, that just a few options were left, and quite possibly, all those people had titles that would make her give Soo a lecture about proper etiquette.

Imagine her surprise when upon opening the doors, she was greeted with the sight of a very cheerful Soo talking with a very calm 4th Prince, who looked like he was thinking just what to comment on what the girl was talking about. The fact that they seemed to be having a conversation that couldn't have possibly started only a few minutes ago was something Myung Hee wasn't all that able to process until she bowed her head to the Prince.

"The snow was pretty, but you wouldn't have been happy if I stayed longer under it" Soo smiled widely, gesturing to the window after placing her cup down, and how she didn't spill anything on her clothing would forever and ever remain a mystery "We have to warm up so we don't catch a cold"

4th Prince Wang So, who had tensed on his chair when his sister-in-law greeted him, and looked somehow awkward when she caught him just about to answer to something Soo had said, raised his eyes from his cup when the girl said that. There was a pause on his movements as he glanced at Myung Hee briefly, then back at Soo before speaking "It wasn't that long, you would have been fine. Or you catch colds easily?"

"Isn't tomorrow an important day, Your Highness? You'll thank me when you don't wake up to it with a running nose"

Maybe it was her imagination, but right before subtly calling her cousins name so she would know she should talk more like a lady in front of a Prince, Myung Hee's eye might have caught the Prince's lips twitching before hiding what maybe was an amused smirk behind the cup of tea. The fact that he presented his question once more and she was able to step in, seeing Soo apparently had forgotten she did catch colds easily, wasn't lost to Lady Hae.

The second time, it lacked the Prince's physical presence, but it was as refreshing as if the young man himself had been standing there with the package in his own arms.

Two days later there was leaf tea delivered to Soo's hands right after she finished working on her 'soaps', handed by an Eunuch who was as puzzled when Soo was the one who practically skipped to the stairs to receive it as 8th Prince Wook was when the eunuch announced just who had sent it, and if it weren't for the fact that the girl muttered something along the lines of 'proving him wrong about his tastes' before asking Chae Ryung to prepare that tea for her, Myung Hee would have otherwise commented on how particular was the 4th Prince when giving gifts and how Soo should thank him properly. Something inside of her told the woman Soo didn't think of the gesture as gift, maybe something closer to 'sharing knowledge through direct tasting', but the thought only made Myung Hee chuckle and shake her head when her cousin asked what was she laughing about.

 _"He gets points for quality…. Okay, so it's good. Should I send something back?"_

When they departed to the Palace and Myung Hee saw Soo placing aside two plain snow white soaps from the ones she had not distributed yet, the woman didn't have the heart to comment on it. And when the girl returned to her room with no white soap on sight, her cousin still didn't say anything, just smiled and walked away. That's what the 8th Prince's wife counted as the third time.

The fourth time was, maybe, the last one she would be able to witness in her earthly body. Myung Hee knew it, she could feel it in her chest with every breathe she had to fight to get. But it was worth it, oh so worth it, if only to see how amused and happy Soo had looked at that moment.

"The 4th Prince would like to invite Lady Soo for tea this afternoon"

Judging by their faces, Princess Yeon Hwa, who had been walking by the corner at that precise moment, and Prince Wook, who was about to head to the library, didn't find the invitation as amusing. But Soo was happy, and since Myung Hee didn't have many chances left to see it, she just forgot about everything else and enjoyed the girl's smile.


End file.
